Arena Grand Prix at Charlotte Headlined By Gold Medalists

4/25/2013

Headlined by five-time Olympic gold medalist Ryan Lochte (Daytona Beach, Fla.), gold-medal winning Charlotte native Ricky Berens (Charlotte, N.C.) and Charlotte-based gold medalists Cullen Jones (Irvington, N.J.) and Nick Thoman (Cincinnati, Ohio), more than 400 of the top swimmers in the country will hit the water at the Mecklenburg County Aquatic Center on May 9-12 for the Arena Grand Prix at Charlotte, presented by UltraSwim.

Olympians Jones and Thoman are two of the nearly 30 swimmers from Charlotte-based SwimMAC Carolina currently slated to compete at their hometown facility.

The action begins Thursday, May 9 with finals at 4 p.m. ET. Competition on May 10-12 will feature prelims at 9 a.m., followed by 6 p.m. finals. Tickets are required for all sessions and are on sale now via the Arena Grand Prix at Charlotte, presented by UltraSwim, website.

Following the Arena Grand Prix at Charlotte, the Series will make its final stop May 30-June 2 in Santa Clara, Calif. As part of USA Swimming’s new, eight-year partnership with Arena, the Arena Grand Prix Series will offer swimmers the opportunity to take home prize money for top finishes in all individual Olympic-distance events for each meet in the Series. An overall leaderboard for the Series can be found online here.

The Arena Grand Prix Series serves as an opportunity for swimmers to race against some of the best competition in the country as they continue their preparation for the 2013 Phillips 66 National Championships and World Championships Trials in Indianapolis, Ind., the World University Games in Kazan, Russia, and the FINA World Championships in Barcelona, Spain.